There are many flavors of homeschooling, and unschooling is just one of them. In fact, there are so many combinations of homeschool learning types, that it is probably fruitless trying to figure out how to fit homeschool students into these boxes.

I consider our family to use “blended unschooling”, since I allow our daughter to select what she wants to study (which is the definition of unschooling), but I help guide her as to how she learns. We use tutoring, coaching, online learning, and true unschooling (for some topics).

Research

That said, I have encountered no research that defines how homeschooled children are taught, therefore it is virtually impossible to define the demographics of unschooling. However, we can make some educated guesses.

As of 2012, the US Department of Education estimates there are 1.77M homeschooled students. The Urban Institute (2014) defines upper middle class as families with income between $100K and $350K, so, for our purposes, we will examine families with income over $100K.

In 2012, approximately 20% of homeschooled families report incomes above $100K. This compares to 26% of total number of school families with income over $100K.

In 2012, 15.5% of homeschooled families report incomes below $20K, compared to 23% of total number of school families with income below $20K.

In 2007, approximately 5% of homeschooled families report incomes above $100K. This compares to 29% of total number of school families with income above $100K.

In 2007, 12% of homeschooled families report incomes below $20K, compared to 17% of total number of school families with income below $20K.

Conclusion

There appears to be a large shift in homeschool demographics over a 5-year reporting period

The proportion of low-income homeschool families has dropped slightly

The proportion of high-income families has increased dramatically

Guesses

Since there has been no big change in the number of low-income families who are homeschooling, it is reasonable to assume that there are also no significant changes to the philosophy and reasons for homeschooling within this group.

However, the huge increase in higher-income homeschooling families is fascinating. This is a group that has many options, including:

moving to a home within a “good” school district

private schools

charter school

magnet school

dual enrollment

homeschooling.

The significant increase in homeschooling within this demographic suggests that parents believe it is in the best interests of their child. Very interesting!

I think it is likely that this demographic are more likely to choose some type of unschooling.

Now, to answer your question (finally). It is possible to homeschool if you don’t have much money – more than 10% of homeschool families are in this category. Yes, it is probably more difficult for these families. However, there are options:

grandparents or other family members

one-income parent

co-ops (sharing learning responsibilities with other families)

children accompany parents to work

church groups.

I do agree, however, that a family with high income is likely to have many more options available to them.